Vulnerability
by Hyuuga Tenten ftw
Summary: [NejiTen] Neji and Tenten learn each others weaknesses.


This came to me in a dream sort of, enjoy.

* * *

Vulnerability is a sin for ninjas and kunouichis alike. It opens up opportunities for death, stolen information, or interference in one's personal life. It also leaves gaping chances for infliction on one's pride.

Tenten learned this the hard way.

Somewhat.

She also learned that vulnerability could be just what the doctor ordered. Vulnerability, true in exposing weaknesses and information inclusively, doesn't always have to be a bad thing for a ninja. In this case a kunouichi.

Vulnerability can be a beautiful thing, even for the most headstrong, insensitive, know-it-all, pigheaded-

"JERKS! And I can even believe the two of you have the audacity to show no shame on your faces!"

Ah yes, even 18-year-old Tenten can be vulnerable. And she doesn't like it one. Bit.

"Tenten, I don't see what the big deal is, why would you even bring your, your... your THIS on a trip with you-" Waving it around in her face only lit the fire in her eyes, "a reconnaissance trip I might add. Meaning at any place, any moment in time, this would be used against y-"

"BY YOU? I could understand enemies, hell, even a bumbling woodland creature to use my diary against me before you two did!"

"CALM DOWN TENTEN! Would you hurt me, the beautiful azure beast of Konoha, and Neji, the Hyuuga prodigy, but even more, your comrades and closest friends?" Lee pleaded while doing a no-arm back flip over a log and narrowly missing an array of metal death. "That would be misusing the flame of your youth!"

"Right DAMN now," Senbon strikes Lee's spandex knee and pins his clothing, not him, to the tree. He desperately tries to pull it out, "If I wanted to use the flames of my youth so... so fucking bad," She launches shuriken to the unsuspecting Neji and an 'ouch' is heard as he is pinned to the bark by his dog tag chain necklace, "I would have used it to burn you bastards up hours ago."

With Neji and Lee immobilized slightly, Tenten pinned them further into the tree with her weapons by whatever clothing available. Lucky Lee, he always wears his one piece unless he goes swimming, bathes, or uses the bathroom. Neji on the other hand was preparing for a bath when Tenten found out her diary had been tampered with. None too gently, Tenten pulled Neji by his silky soft, deep coffee colored mane and had brought him up to her eye level. The fact that Neji showed an ounce of fear confirmed Tenten's.

Earlier That Night

* * *

"You didn't, Neji."

Sigh "I did Tenten."

"How much did you read?"

"Why should that matt- OUCH" A twist to the hair to bring him back on topic.

"I'll ask again, that's something I don't normally do. How. Much. Did. You. Read." Neji mentally cursed for the ground grinding onto his knee. They were by a riverbank, and the foliage was none too friendly. All he had sparing him from Tenten's angry eyes was a pair of navy blue boxers. Tenten looked disarrayed, standing in her nightclothes, dual buns gone and hair in a high messy one. Overlarge T-shirt, which shadowed all but the hem of the shorts, she wore. She was pissed.

"Lee stopped around the part your started talking about when you started trying to cook and realized you unconsciously used your new underwear as a dishrag." Neji's face visibly threatened to crack a grin.

"Neji, you replaced them with the rag didn't you?" Her eyes narrowed considerably with a gleam. Neji was now grinning and looking down at the ground. Her standing slightly bent at the waist, Neji's hair fisted in her left hand, katana in the right, bangs falling in her eyes. Neji Standing straight up on his right knee, Left leg, akimbo out to the side, Right hand bracing her left, left arm onhis left leg for support. Neck exposed, face in perfect alignment to the horizon.

Vulnerability, that's what its about.

"What about you, I believe I asked about YOU."

"Well Tenten, despite the compromising situation you have me in now, you're not taking advantage of this nearly as much as you would in your diary."

There was deafening silence. Crickets dare not chirped, glass dared not to shatter, hell the moon even stopped moving for a full minute.

But Neji? Neji smiled. That bastard _smiled_, now.

Tenten, she flushed. Hard. Hinata had _nothing_ on this one. Any spectator would of swore her hair blushed if there were any witnesses. So Tenten did the best thing any woman would do in this situation.

She threw Neji into the water and went after Lee.

Sure Lee hadn't read as much as Neji had. Hell, Lee didn't even read anything compromising or vulgar. He would just catch the brunt of her fury since right now, Neji would die by her hands for sure, and he was too much of a bishounen to do that. Lee was like a little brother to her. Didn't siblings always fight?

"Lee-kun, can you help me for a moment?" Man. Tenten should have been an actress from the way she was pouring on the kindness.

"Sure Tenten-Chan anything for you!"

Lee hopped away from his weekly Squirrel Informational Meeting and damn near frolicked over to Tenten.

"Lee reporting for du-"

She punched him in the face.

"Lee have you seen Tenten-" Neji came into the clearing soaking wet, in a pair of boxers and no weapons, to stumble across Lee's intended burial. "Whoa Ten, put him down!"

"I intend on it!" She was plucked off a blue-looking Lee by a wet feeling Neji and dropped on to the hard feeling ground. Lee thanked him and hopped on the other side of the campfire.

"What's wrong Tenten-Chan, has someone tampered with the flames of your you-"

"She knows about the diary."

"Oh." Lee's face unleashed a small grin.

"JERKS! And I can even believe the two of you have the audacity to show no shame on your faces!"

Where were we? Oh yeah.

* * *

Tenten had by now pinned Lee and Neji to the trees with a variety of weapons, a definite rare occasion, the third to be exact, and they still were having more fun than Tenten was.

"I ought to turn you into human pincushions and let the hokage heal you. But I'll leave you there."

Tenten stormed off to go clear her head. Neji used a little chakra and disarmed him self from the tree. Neji took down Lee. They cleaned up the camp in good moods tonight.

All Lee had read was a small excerpt. _'-Today was a little weird. I felt queasy earlier, but Gai-sensei brought me some soup. When we left for out mission earlier today and had breakfast, I truly didn't want to feel like an obstruction to the group. No doubt that vulnerability is my greatest fear. I was washing the dishes, and half way through, I realized someone had replaced the rag with my underwear! I bet it was that punk Neji! I don't even know why I like him if he causes me this much stress!'_ So he didn't understand the full extent of her anger. But Neji had read much, much more.

He was still comprehending the fact that he broke into her bag, took her diary and read it. All of it. He knew he wasn't the only one feeling the way he did, now. Hell, her diary had nothing on what reeled through his head at night. And Lee had no idea, well they thought he didn't.

I guess they'll never know why he really convinced Neji of replacing the underwear or stealing the diary and handing it to him. Or convincing Neji to get Tenten ribbons for her sweet sixteen two years ago. Or why he had a picture of their first kiss tucked away in his pocket. No. Lee, compared to Naruto, was the number two ninja of surprises, was a fool by no one's standards. Ninja's must always look underneath the underneath.

Neji dried off, threw on a pair of long black pants and set off on a conquest of the fools. Calming down TenTen.

He found her sitting on a log, a full mile down the riverbank where they had once been, swirling the tip of her kodachi blade in the water with her right hand, face propped up in her left.

"Is it that big of a deal to you?" The swirling stopped. He stood behind her, hands in his pockets, sizing up the moon.

"I dont know. What do you want Neji?" She resumed her impossible feat of slowly cutting up the water.

"Aside from the priveledge of teasing you every now and then... I don't know." He reached over her shoulder and plucked her kodachi out of her fingers.

"Let me ask you this then, why did fate bring you to this river bank at this moment in time, 'cus there's plenty of riverbank to go around." Well that was a low blow about the fate.

"Tenten, I dont know. I'm sorry for invading your privacy and I'll never do it again" Her back visibly lessened in tension she didn't know she had, "but at no small expense, I don't regret doing it at all."

She whipped around to glare at him and damn near had a nose bleed in the process. A shirtless Hyuuga isn't something you get to see every day. The training definitly paid off. He smirked, she stood up to leave. She bumpped his shoulder in passing. He grabbed her wrist. She twisted, it failed. She sighed then looked him in the face.

Just like in boxing. below the belt and you could be disqualified.

"Exposing the enemy's weakness. That's my nindo."

Maybe TBC...


End file.
